What's all this, then?

Mike, my Charisma co-adviser, and I were to travel to Columbia University this week and co-present a literary magazine session on how to advise publication students. Due to a number of factors, Mike is unable to join me in NYC. It's our hope that advisers will blog about the following ideas so that we may all rethink how our publication group runs for the betterment of the students. Advisers attending the Wednesday sessions: blog away! Others of the faithful who have been to Literary Magazine Creations before: you may blog away too! We'll all benefit from the input.
There's about 25 posts below. Have at it! Bob

Setting up: organization of the club

Mike and I tell the editor each year that he or she (she for the past ten years, if not more) has the power to set up the staff as he or she sees fit. We tell the editor about the different configurations that we've had in the past: committees, one huge group, everone has a job, etc.
Usually the editor picks a literature editor, an art editor, a layout editor, and a fundraiser/PR person. The rest of the group chooses (or interviews for, or is assigned to) at least one editor. Mike and I state clearly that we are there to advise. And - off we go!

Setting up: how often should they meet?

Charisma meets once a week, 3-5. Each year when we begin we ask the editor to choose meeting times. Monday evening is what's usually chosen. Two hours goes fast and allows us to do a lot of things. I think that meeting twice a week might be better. However, my schedule and the students' schedules don't usually allow a second weekly meeting. Mike and I don't do this group as a club that meets during Club Period (once a week) - in the past, students have been dumped into the club, and very little gets done when that happens. Also, we've talked about turning Charisma into a class, but then people wouldn't be able to grow up in it - some come in as Freshmen and do it all four years. In the past two years we added an online blog, but that has not been used to its potential.

Setting up: where should they meet?

Literary magazine students are a little more fussy about where they meet than other student groups may be. They like to be around their computers, they like art rooms, especially if the rooms are big, and they like having objects on the walls that state their identity. We have printer's plates from the cover of a magazine created years ago, and we're thinking about putting up those plates. The room should also be a place with large tables so that work may be laid out for all to see. Natural lighting would be best. Quiet seems to be what the staff prefers - our bunch never asks for music to be played while we work.

Setting up: how are students selected for the publication?

For the past few years, we've taken all the students we could get. It has been years since we've had a male on staff. It used to be that there was a literature team, an art team, a layout team; now, however, a number of the students do any and all jobs.
Back when we could be more selective, we used to have people fill out applications. The completed applications helped us place the student. Also, some students never completed applications - they were not made part of the magazine.

Setting up: leadership roles

Mike and I really concern ourselves with only one leadership role: who is the editor? Still, we ask the staff to choose their editor, with the understanding that we may veto a choice that will end the magazine. It's also true that while we talk about whether an editor stays or goes at the end of each year, most editors stay on until they graduate. So, while Mike has worked with the literary magazine for four years, he's only worked with two editors. This may not be an optimal system.
The editor, then, picks his or her staff without much input from me and Mike. Editors are in charge of hiring and firing, and if the magazine isn't moving along, it's the editor who has to make changes. Just like in the real world. Lately, for the past three years, our staff has been so small that firing anyone has been unthinkable.

Helping them achieve their goal: phases of the year

Each phase of the publications year has its own mood and motivation. We usually begin in September feeling ebullient and experimental. Lots of new faces at the meetings. Then we begin advertising the magazine in the fall, collect submissions, and try to focus the group on choosing a theme. Sometimes this works within weeks; other times . . . The theme is usually chosen by the end of November, and things suddenly become focused and workmanlike. At each meeting material requires evaluation. Our print rep comes in. Problems with the theme are discussed. How many pages will this magazine be? How many colors? Cover stock? Glossy? Then in January and February things rise to a fever pitch: we need a play! Does anyone have a picture that will fit with this poem? What is a colophon anyway? Then comes the day in February when the layout begins. March and the beginning of April are quiet as they layout genius creates his or her magic. Posters asking for submissions are taken down; students drift off and are never heard from again. Then in late April, early May: a magazine! Commercials run on the school news, lit mag members sell the new issue at lunch, in classes, at graduation practice. A few final meetings at which we prepare summer evaluation submissions and scheme for next year - those meetings are usually attended by only the most dedicated and those desiring plum positions in the next school year. That's the different phases at Big Spring.

Helping them meet their goal: Keeping them on-task

One certainly couldn't say that our magazine is on task 100% of the time. Nevertheless, at times this past fall and winter the Art room where we meet has been silent, everyone working away: selecting, editing, entering text, planning. As an adviser, I like to gently nudge the staff and ask a lot of questions to my editor. Mike and I have tried deadlines, demands, threats - and I tried them before Mike came on board 4 years ago. Such demands don't usually wash well with literary magazine students. They seem to be more the kind of kids who like to try things and see what happens. More fishermen than CEOs. For the adviser, the old adage is true: flexibility is key.

Helping the students meet their goal: attrition

How many years have I ended the year with about a third of the students coming to meetings than appeared in September? I think it's natural for some kids to stop coming, particularly if other activities come up, or if they haven't really committed to the group. I used to do more to keep kids coming back than I do now. Jobs and titles keep kids coming back; so does meaningful work and progress. On the other hand, our layout editor is finishing up the magazine right now, so while there is work they all could be doing (like planning how they will sell the magazine), mostly just one student is working away. Once she's done with the layout, Mike and I will make an effort to round up the rest of the staff, but some won't return.

Helping them meet their goal: factions

I've rarely worked with a staff that didn't have factions. It may be unavoidable: students come down different paths, and seek different things from the magazine (identity, something to do, a place to be after school, meeting people, etc.). From the past I've learned that, without taking time from the group, do as much team building as one can do. Team building has to be done differently with literary magazine kids than with the football team, or the dance team. Nevertheless it can be done. Food and T-shirts go a long way.

Helping students meet their goal: when they fight

I've never witnessed fist fights in the literary magazine in the past 18 years. However, ugly rumors, yelling, crying, complaints, demands - I've heard all that. Usually it's one person or a group against another person. The dangerous thing is when a student leaves and takes half the staff with them - something similar happened this fall when three students stood up and left. I think the idea of advising students is best when this happens - let the editor handle things, and stay in the loop but out of the line of fire. It's also true that sometimes there is nothing one can do, and suddenly your publication staff is half of what it was. Such things happen in real world publications, too.

Interacting with Adults: helping students raise money

Raising funds rarely goes well for the literary magazine at Big Spring: we're a small rural district with few businesses that we may solicit. The staff is constantly being asked to purchase something for a student organization. Nevertheless, we continue trying. Mike and I try to guide the students in their fundraising attempts, but sometimes - like this year - we're not successful: I was supposed to come up with a list of businesses from the yearbook, and I was supposed to help arrange for a sandwich sale, and neither plan has happened yet. Nevertheless, if an adviser was to offer structure, I think this is the place to do it. Help them write letters and create brochures (the brochure printing is actually happening this weekend). The business department may also be able to offer some tips regarding the best way to ask for donations.

Students interacting with Adults: English and Art teachers

These folks certainly can make or break the literary magazine. Mike has a strong connection with the art teachers - he is the department head of Art at Big Spring, and currently is in a department of three. There are nine other English teachers at Big Spring. The magazine has asked for certain genres of work, and have asked that the magazine be shared for 15 minutes to a half-hour sometime during the year. Most of our requests from the English teachers have been ignored. Nevertheless, quality work continues to be written, and much of it finds its way to the magazine. I do find that I can say things ten times in department meetings, but when one of the students says something, the comment has a better chance of being heard.

Students interacting with adults: administrators

The administrators at Big Spring, where Mike and I teach, take pride in the magazine and look forward every year to its publication. I think it's appropriate for the principal to know who the literary magazine editor is, and for the editor to keep the principal aware of developments. I think a good relationship between the magazine staff and the adminstration helps keep Prior Review away. As Billy Joel says, it's a matter of trust. Other opinions?

Interaction with adults: the print rep

When should the printer representative come in? At our magazine, that time is just after the students establish the theme - so we hope to have the rep in before Christmas, before Hanukkah - maybe even before Thanksgiving. Who meets with the rep? We always have the entire staff meet with ours. Would it be easier if only the editor and the advisers met with him? Probably. But the number one concern is for student development, yes?

Students interacting with adults: middle school, junior high

Do you really want to sell your magazine at the middle school? How many swears are in the magazine? How many adult situations? Or, does your literary magazine group wish to screen the content in the high school magazine so that it's appropriate for any thirteen-year-old? If the middle school kids never see a magazine, how will they know to join the staff when they come to the high school?

What the adviser can do: promote the magazine

Sometimes administrators are great at listening to the students. Other times, it seems that the teacher is more likely to have the ear of the school board member. As adviser, you should also appropriately promote the magazine by telling those who won't hear about it any other way that your publication staff is fabulous, and that this year's magazine is awesome! Mention it while you're at the drug store or bowling. Make sure the chemistry teacher knows it's printed and ready to purchase. I don't need to go so far as wearing a sandwich board sign, but, well, maybe I do . . .

What the Adviser can do: stop them from disaster

The responsible adviser does not allow a bad idea to come to fruition. Nor does he or she let the magazine spiral out of control and out of existence. Mike McVitty and I have said "Hold it!" to publication groups. How big should the problem swell before the adviser speaks? Some things should be nipped in the bud (impossible layouts, offensive material - what else?).

What the adviser can do: Push for USEFUL cutting-edge technology

Does your publication need an oversized color printer to print off pre-proofs of the magazine? Sure it would be nice, but do you need it? Do you have enough digital cameras - or do you need just one? Does CS4 need to be purchased, or can you get by with CS3? Equipment purchases should be determined by need, not want. Having said that, what does one need to operate a strong publication? Can you take such requests to the school board? I think that equipment that allows students to produce the best magazine they can is necesarry.

What the adviser can do: award them

Kids love awards. Do you hand out your own? Does your publication give out a Best Short Story award for the year, or Best Watercolor? Do you compete in state conferences or national evaluations? There's something about competitions that fires up kids.

Help move the magazine out beyond the walls of the school

Even the most esoteric, myopic magazine shouldn't spend its entire life cooped up in the lit mag publication room. Someone in your district will be glad to read the literature and view the art of your students. Did you put a copy in Guidance? One in the office where the kids sit before talking with the principal (or where the parents sit before talking with the principal?)? Is there a copy in the district office where interviewees wait before being called in? We have no used bookstores or regular bookstores in our little hamlet (to borrow from Hitchcock), but we're contemplating selling the magazine in the local grocery store. Is a copy in your town library?

Model loving literary magazines, literature, art

Some kids go nuts over literary magazines, but I find that many need to be fired up about what we're doing, especially given the disinterest of the student body. I search out other literary magazines (judging is a great way to obtain magazines regularly), make a fuss over cool layouts, and share great poems and artwork. Students may take this pursuit seriously if you do; if you don't, most of them won't.